Therese MacGregor & Claudette Moore

In response to the Mail Tribune editorial posted Nov. 12 regarding the forest thinning bill, here are some facts that we would like to share: First, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Database, 90 percent of fuels reduction projects — whether carried out through logging, thinning or prescribed fire — were effective in reducing wildfire severity. Salvaging burned timber after a fire allows federal land agencies to recover the economic value of dead and dying trees. Post-fire salvage also protects public safety by removing hazard trees along highways, forest roads and hiking trails that might otherwise fall on people. …Congressman Greg Walden and others understand that such a one-size-fits-all approach to federal forest management is not working. The Resilient Federal Forests Act does not mandate logging and it doesn’t impose any specific forestry prescription across all federal land.